Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. I’m glad the Rays at least got to celebrate once at home, even if their backs are still against the wall. 

In today’s SI:AM: 
😅 Rays survive in extras
🏀 Best players in men’s hoops
🏈 NFL trade deadline wishlist

Let’s run it back tonight

The Rays aren’t done yet. 

Tampa Bay prevailed in a wild 12-inning Game 4 last night against the Brewers to force a Game 5 tonight at the Trop. The odds are still stacked against the AL champion, but no matter how the series ends, last night’s game will go down as one of the greatest in Rays history. 

It got off to an eventful start. The Rays scored in the bottom of the second, then the Brewers tied it in the top of the fourth, then the Rays went back ahead in the bottom of the fourth before David Hamilton’s solo homer in the top of the fifth tied things at 2–2. 

And it stayed that way for a while. Both teams’ strong bullpens held their opponents in check until Milwaukee’s Cooper Pratt led off the 12th inning with a homer. But the Rays didn’t blink. Junior Caminero reached base on an error to lead off the bottom of the inning, and then the Rays strung together four straight singles to scratch across two runs and win the game. The hero was Ben Williamson, who entered as a pinch hitter and chopped a ball over the head of the first baseman to drive in the winning run. 

“It’s what you dream of growing up,” Williamson told reporters. “You play Wiffle ball in the backyard with your friends and you’re dreaming of hitting a walk-off ball in the World Series. The way the team fought tonight to get me into that situation and to have runners on, and just to have that moment for me was huge for them.”

The marathon game will have a major impact on how tonight’s Game 5 goes. Both teams asked a lot of their bullpens to get through extra innings—especially the Rays, who were fighting to keep their season alive. Nick Martinez, Tampa Bay’s Game 1 starter, pitched two scoreless innings in relief. Standout closer Bryan Baker also went two innings. It was the first time he recorded six outs in a game since July 2024. He needed 21 pitches to do so, his most in any outing this postseason. 

What was more troubling than the volume of pitches was that Baker’s velocity continued to drop. His fastball averaged 96.3 mph in the regular season, but just 93.9 mph last night. It topped out at 95.7. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that he threw just six fastballs, compared to 15 changeups. Will Baker be able to pitch if needed in a close game tonight, the day after his longest outing of the playoffs? And if he does, will his diminished stuff finally catch up with him?

The good news for the Rays is that the Brewers also have a taxed bullpen. Abner Uribe went two innings last night, DL Hall got five outs and Aaron Ashby got seven. Interestingly, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy only used closer Trevor Megill for one batter. He struck out Yandy Díaz to end the eighth inning and then gave way to Ashby in the ninth. The game might have ended differently if the Brewers had gotten more out of Megill and not had to go so far down the bullpen pecking order as the game wore on, but he’ll at least be fresh for tonight. 

It was a feel-good moment for the Rays, even if their chances of winning the series remain remote. It was the second time in franchise history that they won a World Series game at home (the other being Game 2 of the 2008 series against the Phillies). They’ll have an opportunity to do it again tonight and send the series back to Milwaukee. It won’t be easy, though. Jacob Misiorowski will be on the mound for the Brewers. 

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📺 What we’re watching today …

MLB

Brewers at Rays, 8 p.m. ET, Fox
Can Tampa Bay extend its season for the second night in a row and send the series back to Milwaukee? The Brewers will turn to fireballer Jacob Misiorowski to win the franchise’s first World Series title while the Rays will rely on a committee of pitchers.

NBA

76ers at Pacers, 7 p.m. ET, ESPN
Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton and Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, both first-round picks in the 2020 NBA Draft, are off to fast starts. Haliburton, after missing 16 months due to a torn Achilles tendon, is averaging 21.8 points and 9.5 assists per game. Maxey leads the Sixers in scoring, averaging 28.8 points per game.

Thunder at Mavericks, 9:30 p.m. ET, ESPN
While injuries have piled up for both the Thunder and the Mavericks, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dallas’s Cooper Flagg will look to keep their teams on the right track.